Did Jesus Christ establish a morality for his followers?
Is personal freedom compatible with Christian morlaity?
Introduction
Christianity is not merely a morality
But Christianity is also a morality
Christianity is a religious morality
a. The concepts of good and evil are determined by God.
b. The ethical requirements of the Gospel require God’s grace.
Christian morality is a morality of following and imitating Christ
a. The call or vocation
b. The response
c. The following
d. Discipleship
e. imitation
Identification with Christ: Life in Christ
Characteristics of Christian morality
a. Christian morality first affects the person and then the action.
b. Christian morality transforms first the soul and then the moral appearance.
c. Christian morality encompasses the attitudes of the person.
d. Christian morality account for what is forbidden, but stresses more what ought to be done.
e. Christian morality requires not only just actions, but also holiness.
f. Jesus proclaims a series of moral laws but Christina morality is not a rigid morality marked by a multiplicity of precepts.
g. The morality preached by Jesus is a morality that includes both reward and punishment.
h. Christian morality is morality for freedom.
i. Christian morality is fulfilled on earth but it pertains to the next life.
j. Christian morality finds its beginning and end in love.
k. The Christian moral life finds it nourishment in Mass and in the Sacraments.
Vocabulary: actual grace, Christian Morality, Christian Vocation, Christianity, disciple, free will, freedom, holiness, humanism, Law of Christ, holiness, love (charity), moral law, morality, New Being in Christ, original sin, negative morality, positive morality, sins of omission, virtue.
Questions
What is the purpose of life?
What is the effect of living the moral life?
What is Christian morality?
What is Christianity?
Why are faith, hope and charity called the theological virtues?
How do Christian ethics differ from secular ethics?
What happens to Christianity when it is reduced to merely following a moral program?
What are some characteristics of a “legalistic” approach to Christianity?
What do we mean when we say that Christianity is a religious morality?
What is the origin and goal of Christianity morality?
What is grace? Sanctifying grace? Actual grace?
What five elements make up the morality of following and imitating Jesus?
What does it mean to be Christlike?
What characteristics set Christianity apart from all other religious beliefs?
What are the characteristics of Christian morality?
What is the distinction between the gifts of free will and freedom?
What is the final lesson of Christian morality?
Where is the Christian moral life forged?
How would you describe holiness?
How is the life of holiness made possible and how is it strengthened?
Why is is that Christian life surpasses that of people who follow only natural ethics?